


Up On The Housetop

by ussgallifrey



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Music, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Holidays, Minor Violence, Nurses & Nursing, Reckless Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:08:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21768436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ussgallifrey/pseuds/ussgallifrey
Summary: You meet him in the most peculiar of ways. Or, the five times Bucky was incapable of using a door and the one time he was.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 77





	Up On The Housetop

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to Christmas music when I had this hysterical image of Bucky crashing through a window as the song played in my head. It sparked this.

**01\. Journey Coffee House, Midtown Manhattan - November 13, 2026**

You’re already running late for work when you enter the busy cafe. The downpour outside had spurred you on in search of something warm. Anything to get your day moving in a better direction after the failed alarm and lack of matching scrubs to wear. There’s a line wrapped around the front tables, stopping with you directly off to the side of the front doors.

If you bought the boss’s usual order, you might be able to smooth this right over. As the minutes tick by and the line slowly eases forward, you’re praying for a miracle to get you off the hook for being so late. By the time you make it down to the hospital, you’ll be at least fifteen minutes behind. Maybe a few chocolate scones would need to be bought to make it pass with the head nurse.

“Oh my god,” someone behind you says before the sharp crash of glass against the floor has the place thrown into a panic. 

Screams ring out as a fight rages on, only feet away from you. A soaking wet mess of black tactical trying to pull some freak in neon green off his back.

They’re clambering for control over broken glass shards, sending patrons scattering in the moment. With your back pressed up against the still intact window, the men struggle past you. Before the one in black sends the other down by throwing him into a table. It splits in half with the sudden weight. And then he’s on top of the guy in green.

You let the breath you were holding in finally release. The man stands up, bruised and worse for wear as he sheepishly surveys the damage. And then he’s hauling the other guy off the floor and out into the downpour of the street. 

It takes you a full hour to get to work and by that point news footage of the Avengers fighting has taken over the TV at the nurse’s station. A video pans across the devastation to show the Winter Soldier dragging the wannabe villain down the street.

* * *

**02\. Bank of America, Lower Manhattan - November 21**

This week has Saturday as your one day to get all the errands done. Which, unfortunately, means going in to pay off a portion of your bank loan. Ever since last winter when the major storm in January took out your furnace and busted a water pipe in the apartment above you, things had been unbearably tight in the financial sense. But it was almost paid off, a damn year later.

You’re almost finished up with the teller when a series of gunshots ring out in the open lobby. 

A startled scream escapes your throat as the world grows hazy. Surrounded by a group of guards stands a masked man. He’s saying something, but you can’t really hear it with the hot wave of terror running through your veins. But as people start dropping to the ground, you’re quick to follow.

If it was just a robbery, there wouldn’t be all the theatrics. But it seems the main guy ranting in the center of the room has a personal vendetta against this particular bank - just your luck, of course. He’s got a gun pointed at an employee in a blue suit, something about past employment being vehemently spat out.

A guard pulls your purse in search of valuables - he’ll be lucky if he finds anything. Maybe a handful of quarters for the vending machine and a few dollars rolling around in an otherwise empty wallet.

And then there’s a burst of glass. Shielding your eyes as the decorative ceiling falls in, you hear the drop of boots on the marble floor. And then punching, shouting, more shooting. You dare a peak, finding a flash of red and black wings. Curling in further to make yourself as small as possible between the wooden divider of the teller’s booth.

A final punch brings heavy breaths and then… silence. Slowly bringing your head up, you see two of the Avengers wiping blood from their mouths as they round up the group of robbers. Another rush of team members follows shortly after as they check for damage.

The Winter Soldier meets your silent gaze and he gives you a funny look in return. A small quirk of his lips as he recognizes you from the cafe just a week prior. And oddly enough, you feel yourself smiling back before an agent walks over to check you for injuries. He’s already gone once you’ve been cleared to go.

* * *

**03\. Brooklyn Hospital’s Emergency Department, Brooklyn - December 4**

Things have been relatively calm for a Friday. Enough time in between patients gives you and a few of the other nurses a chance to put up more of the usual decorations. Snowflake garland along the main desk. A small tree in the waiting room. Stockings behind the nurse’s station bearing the names of the main residents. 

“Hey, Sara? Can you hand me another one?” You ask, balancing rather haphazardly on a desk chair as you press red and green ornament stickers onto the window.

The automatic doors slide open with a rush of cold air and a loud amount of bickering. Hopping down, you catch the sight of dark crimson as two figures rush towards the desk.

“’m fine,” the one says.

“Like hell you are,” the other barks, seemingly holding the majority of the bleeding man’s weight.

There’s a flurry of people as the one is brought back to a room. 

“Yeah,” Sam Wilson sighs with a heavy hand against his forehead, “He jumped from the thirty-first floor.”

You gape, amazed that anyone could survive that fall - let alone walk after it. And then your brain clicks together when you realize who the two men are.

Your name is shouted from the first exam room by the doctor on call, “All hands on deck!”

In an instant, you’re there with three other nurses, applying pressure to the main lacerations. Squeezing down on the right forearm as the doctor applies pressure to the massive wound on the inner thigh, the Winter Soldier groans.

And then he blinks as another nurse tries to place an oxygen mask on him before he loses consciousness. He tries to bat at it with his metal hand to little avail. But then he seems to meet your gaze. 

“‘Course you’d be here.”

And he laughs. He collapses back as he full-on laughs.

* * *

**04\. Flatbush Shopping Center, Boerum Hill - December 17**

The mall is pleasantly warm but far too crowded for your taste. However, you’re desperately scouring for a secret Santa gift for the Christmas Party and you’ve all but ran out of options before it starts in four hours. The opportunity hadn’t presented itself until today, as you covered shifts and worked the graveyard hours more often than you would have liked.

It took enough energy just to throw your scrubs in the wash and eat a microwave meal before collapsing on your bed. You certainly hadn’t had the energy left to actually shop. But now your time had run out and you were only allotted a few more hours before something had to be wrapped and delivered.

The crazed holiday shoppers don’t fully overpower the sparkling decor, yet. The arches of garland, the silver and gold tinsel bells, the giant lighted candy canes. It’s a nice change of pace from the homemade decor at the emergency room. And it smells better too, something warm and sweet wafting through the mall from Auntie Anne’s. 

And then there’s a cracking and shattering spray of glass as a fight breaks out. Somehow, you’re not even surprised by who you see. A flash of dark hair and gleaming metal as a jingling green elf is tackled to the ground. 

A crowd’s forming, phone’s raised to try and capture the Winter Soldier attacking one of Santa’s elves. But a spread of security guards is holding everyone back. You almost want to roll your eyes, but you can’t help the smile appearing on your face. 

When it’s all over and the police are toting a bruised man in elf ears through the mall, he spots you still standing by the escalator with an amused smirk on your lips.

He hides his grin as he pushes his hair back behind his ear. And then, he’s actually walking over to you.

Somehow, you can’t help what comes out as he stops in front of you.

“So, what’s with you and glass?”

He barks a laugh and it surges right to your heart. 

* * *

**05\. Cranberry Street Apartments, Brooklyn Heights - December 24**

The radio crackles on the kitchen counter as you finish another tray of cookies. A classic Christmas station guiding you through the late night as you strive to get that second batch done. The first had been horrifically burned on the bottom and you were ready to prove your baking skills to your family tomorrow. 

Your apartment is well decorated this time. A little here and there over the past year led to even more lights for the windows and a decent sized tree by the computer desk. You’d even managed to buy some fairy lights for above the bed, but they were definitely staying up the full year-round.

As you slide the last few cookies onto the wire rack for cooling, the radio switches over to another song.

_“Up on the housetop, reindeer pause / Out jumps good ol’ Santa Claus / Down through the chimney with lots of toys / All for the little ones, Christmas joys!”_

You hum along, gliding across the kitchen floor. Tapping the carrot noses of your two small ceramic snowmen on the countertop.

And then… a crack of glass.

You freeze as your living room window shatters into a mess of glittering tiny blue shards. Two bodies tumble in, over the top of your couch, crashing into your coffee table and breaking it in half with the combined weight. 

Stumbling backwards into the fridge, you sink down to the floor as punches are thrown. Watching in horror as your apartment is shredded to pieces.

A broken wooden leg from the remnants of your table is used as a weapon for the Winter Soldier against a faceless enemy. It collapses onto your floor as the victor’s chest heaves with deep breaths.

And then he turns, face speckled with bright red blood as he finally takes you in.

“Seriously?” you squeak from your small position on the floor.

He stands with a groan. Rubbing his hand on the back of his neck with a sheepish expression. Eyes shining with something sweet and amusing.

Moving from your spot on the kitchen floor, you offer him a fresh-baked cookie. He seems hesitant, considering the unbelievable circumstances of his appearance. But you insist. He perches on your lone barstool as you wait for the authorities to arrive to collect another bad guy.

Warm cookies and laughs shared easily between you. And despite how it happened, it’s marked down as one of your best Christmas Eves to date.

* * *

**\+ 01. Cranberry Street Apartments, Brooklyn Heights - December 31**

There’s a nervous rap of knuckles against your front door. Pulling yourself from the kitchen, you hesitantly open the door - expecting another person from Stark’s insurance team to tie up the loose ends of your claim. But instead, you’re met with sweet blue eyes and a small smile.

Opening the door all the way, you lean against the frame as Bucky holds out a single white rose.

“Just wanted to say sorry, again,” he laments as you take the flower, holding it close to your chest.

You let a laugh slip from your lips, “Like I told you the other night, not your fault. Though I am concerned about your habit of coming in through windows.”

He laughs as you raise your brows with a bright gleam.

“To be fair, I did use your door this time.”

You give a nod, feeling the flutter of excitement in your belly. “You did. Very commendable. Should make a habit of it.”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he rocks back on the balls of his feet. And you become acutely aware that you’re still holding this conversation in the open hallway of your apartment building.

“Yeah?” He quips after a moment, “Does that apply to all doors or… or just yours?”

There’s a pleasant thrum in your head as your heart sings sweetly in your chest. Holding out a hand, warm fingers tentatively take yours as you bring him inside your apartment. The promise of something new and exhilarating to bring in the new year as he squeezes your hand for the first time.

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted on my [Tumblr](https://ussgallifreyfics.tumblr.com).


End file.
